


Work Day Day Trip

by Siriusstuff



Series: Teodor Claudius Talan Stilinski-Hale [23]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Architect Derek Hale, Domestic Fluff, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Family Fluff, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Married Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Parenthood, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 12:18:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18716935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siriusstuff/pseuds/Siriusstuff
Summary: Derek has a problem motivating himself to get to work and Stiles (Teo too) has a solution.





	Work Day Day Trip

**Author's Note:**

> I intended my next installment in this series to feature Teo the oldest he's ever been, his early teens, and to introduce a few new important characters. I made such slow progress it felt like no progress writing it so I started another fic, with Teo not as old, set at Maddox's fifth birthday party, but that one too stalled out.
> 
> So I returned to my comfort zone with a much simpler story and Teo still a baby. I have not abandoned the other fics but I needed the feeling of finishing something.

“Daddy's quitting his job,” Derek said to Teo, holding up his little son in one arm.

“What's that?” Stiles came out of the kitchen with the carrot-shaped teether he’d just washed.

“I'm quitting my job.”

“Oh.”

Stiles knew why his husband would say such a thing. He and Derek both conducted their businesses from home but sometimes Derek’s clients, especially if they considered themselves “local,” weren't content with video conferencing. They wanted Derek in the flesh—for consultation purposes only, of course.

But the Stilinski-Hale household had a child now and Derek's inner wolf, more reluctant than ever to leave his mate and pup alone in their lair, responded to such requests like threats to his pack.

Of course Derek's human part knew better, but on that lovely late spring morning, with ten-month old Teo happily babbling and ready for another fun day, Derek and his wolf stood allied.

Stiles understood. A baby was the ultimate responsibility, cause of permanent sleep-deficit, reason for dozens of additional steps to complete any task. But while Stiles of course loved Teo—though usually felt too fatigued to offer more than the usual clichés as to how much—Derek’s love for their baby invoked instincts far more fierce and imperative.

“Huhm _bah!_ ” Teo exclaimed at the return of his teether toy.

“That’s exactly right, Tay, remind your daddy he'll be back home in time for dinner.”

“I'll stay home and we can all go out to lunch.”

“Derek, _I’ll_ remind you, you love your job. You love convincing real estate moguls to go green.”

“They’re not real estate moguls. They’re contractors hired by investors.”

“And you persuade and enable them to make more environmentally sound decisions!”

“I walk job sites with them and repeat what I’ve told them a dozen times already.”

“But… for Mother Earth?”

Derek’s conflicted expression made Stiles’s heart hurt. Yes, his husband was a tough, strong werewolf. Stiles knew those firm, powerful muscles intimately. But now there was a tender daddy, at that moment standing right before Stiles’s eyes, holding the teether while Teo bit it, smiling around it and also drooling.

The troubled look on Derek’s face morphed into happy adoration the longer Teo smiled.

Stiles didn’t think he could argue for his husband’s doing something he didn’t want to, at least not that day.

“You’re gonna get his slobber on your shirt,” Stiles pointed out, aware Derek couldn’t care less about that. Scent was scent.

He noticed the knot in Derek’s tie was askew though that was probably Teo’s doing. Derek always dressed immaculately to meet his clients. Teo was certainly not the one who’d missed the few whiskers remaining on Derek’s throat however. That was an undeniable sign of Derek's distraction.

Stiles dabbed at Teo’s chin till it was dry, a state that wouldn’t last long.

“I promise we won’t go anywhere except the backyard for some fresh air.”

Stiles’s wizardry at coding, programming and other cyber mysteries had earned him clients around the globe. It was unlikely he’d be traveling to Helsinki or Dubai to meet one though. Traversing the world might have its appeal but leaving Derek and Teo behind to do so erased it. Then contrasting the wide world with their backyard, to which he’d just referred, spawned a notion in Stiles’s ever-bewildering brain.

“What if we go with you?” he asked before asking for a reminder of exactly where Derek had to be and about how long a drive it was.

“To Yuba City?” Derek asked, sounding dubious but not so much as to immediately dismiss the idea.

“How far is that?”

Derek knew Stiles meant drive-time. “An hour or so at the very least.”

“What if we go with you? You won’t have to leave us. We’ll be there with you. Does that make this easier for you?”

While Stiles estimated how long it would take to pack for Teo’s needs on a day out, Derek only thought of how wonderful his husband was.

“Yes,” Derek answered honestly. “I love you, Stiles.”

“I know.” (Stiles rarely missed an opportunity to Hans Solo the man he married.)

“Get Teo dressed. I’ll do a quick wash-up and avoid getting too close to anyone I happen to meet today.”

“You smell perfect.”

“Teo! We’re going for a ride! You like that?”

Whether or not Teo understood his papa’s words, he squealed gleefully.

 

After ten months of parenting Stiles considered preparing for a day trip with a baby akin to packing for survival camping. The list of bare necessities was long, and Stiles had written out that list within the first two months of Teo’s life. He never failed to praise himself, just a tiny bit, for his wisdom in compiling his checklist, and especially on that particular day he thought once again maybe he really was a genius at parenthood.

Not that he looked pressed about it at all but Derek was going to be late to his meeting with the representatives of Fass and Hancho Builders, Inc. But by only about an hour or so, and he’d already informed the parties involved, using the little white lie Stiles had readily provided him.

At the end of the intervening hour, Teo watched things going past him where he sat in his car seat. The things went by too fast to really see what they were and he really didn’t care about it when his papa was there with him making him laugh.

Stiles kept Teo entertained and attended to but as fun and interesting as that may have been after a half hour of traveling Teo decided to sleep.

Instead of snoozing too Stiles investigated things to do in Yuba City, Derek assuring him he’d complete his business as quickly as he could, no more than two hours at most, as he kept insisting.

“Might as well take your time now,” Stiles said. “There’s a big park Tay and I can go to, and I’m sure I can find a mall to wander around in.”

In the front seat Derek stifled a growl. Big parks and malls meant strangers, lots of them, swarming around his mate and pup. Without his being there to protect them, Derek—his wolf even more—didn’t like the idea one bit. But he couldn’t expect Stiles and Teodor to wait in the car while he conferred with his clients, could he? And there was no way he’d let either, especially his precious pup, near a construction site.

“Derek, I hear you growling,” Stiles let him know, leaving it at that. He reminded himself the full moon was just days away and maybe that’s why his husband was so edgy. Another contributing factor could also be they hadn’t taken a shower together, for boinking purposes, while Teo slept, since the week before. That was certainly one reason why Stiles would feel edgy, if not for the fact he was a man who kept his primal urges under control (being tired as hell all the time helped too.)

He reached for the back of Derek’s neck, gently massaging.

“Come on, big guy. This’ll be fun. Bring your husband and child to work day.”

Derek repeated, this time aloud, that Stiles and Teo were not setting foot where a building was going up. It was too dangerous.

“Well, then I’m gonna go shopping for a souvenir. Of the day my husband wouldn’t leave home without me.”

“And our baby.”

“ _And_ our baby.”

 

Nothing smelled like home, except for Papa who also smelled like Daddy so everything was OK in this strange place. Teo wished he could see where Daddy was though.

A hot breeze ruffled the wide greens of the park and Stiles was already bored, though Teo looked fascinated at the tree branches swaying.

“You’re being such a good boy, Tay,” Stiles said, getting the little guy’s attention.

“I don’t know why I thought this would be more fun.” He paused thoughtfully. “But Daddy needed us today and marriage means going that extra mile sometimes. Or fifty extra miles.”

“Eefah tambuh!” Teo concurred, now interested in the ties on Stiles’s hoodie.

Stiles proffered a multicolored rattle for him to put in his mouth instead. While that absorbed Teo’s attention for the moment, Stiles let his head fall back and closed his eyes while his thoughts whirred despite the sunlight warming his face.

Suddenly he heard the rattle fall and felt Teo wriggling. Stiles opened his eyes to see a young woman approaching, walking a dog white as a cloud.

“Oh boy,” Stiles said.

The dog was a Samoyed and very friendly. Fortunately so was its human companion and so the next several minutes passed in an exchange of pleasant trivialities, Stiles learning the dog’s name, Bianca. Teo whined and grunted, straining to touch the doggie. With Stiles’s assistance he got to pet the snowy fur and get his fingers licked too, good reasons to be outrageously happy.

“Say bye-bye to Bianca now, Tay.”

As the dog reluctantly let itself be led away, Teo protested, some of his complaints clearly the emerging “no” that parents dread.

“I completely understand your disagreement with the circumstances, Tay, but doggie has to go home now,” Stiles explained, without its having any effect whatsoever on Teo’s displeasure.

Stiles had taken some photos of the encounter but chose not to forward any to Derek right then. In his current mood there was no telling how the wolfman might react to an unknown animal in contact with his son. Instead, when they were alone again and Teo’s mood had returned to calm, Stiles sent Derek a selfie, Teo in his lap, to show him the citizenry of Yuba City hadn’t taken his family hostage.

Though he didn’t know what it was, next Teo heard the tinkle of an ice cream truck, before Stiles did. Then Teo was eating something that tasted so good he forgot about everything, even that his daddy wasn’t there.

Stiles managed to feed Teo ice cream with minimal messiness, though he ate most of it himself. He decided he really did want a postcard at least—with it he could tease Derek about this day, for years maybe.

Where they’d entered the park there were no swings or anything to play on. Stiles figured somewhere in the vicinity there probably was a section for kids, but he wasn’t interested in finding it now. They’d had their share of excitement in the park.

He Googled his way into town and walked the sidewalks with Teo in his stroller. A book shop tempted Stiles but he knew Teo would get bored quickly. A street vendor selling churros enticed him too, but, no, they’d just had ice cream.

Through the window of a dollar store Stiles could see a rack with postcards and so in they went. An atrocious cloying odor filled his nostrils immediately. He could only imagine how much Teo hated it but Stiles wanted a postcard and they wouldn’t be in the stink for long.

He picked out one with YUBA CITY blazoned across scenes of the city’s features attractive to tourists. Apparently Yuba City had a water park. Stiles and Teo definitely hadn’t come prepared for such an adventure and besides, they’d never go anywhere like that without Daddy.

Stiles paid for the card and re-entered the fresher but much hotter air outdoors. Crouching down to check on Teodor, he noted the boy’s indifferent expression at his surroundings, most uninteresting from stroller level.

“Have we had enough, baby boy?”

More than an hour had passed since they’d left Derek with his clients. Time had passed, and they’d had a little bit of fun, but nothing seemed as much fun—or even interesting—without Derek being there.

Were he and Derek really _that_ kind of couple now, Stiles asked himself. Bound to each other dependently, unable to bear being part?

Answer: Very much a possibility, at least as Stiles felt at that moment.

He decided to return to the construction scene and just wait there if necessary.

 

Derek stood amongst a cluster of men without their jackets. He still wore his. He still looked cool, unaffected by the day’s rising heat.

From what Stiles saw through the windshield Derek was smiling too, genuinely it appeared.

Teo livened up, rocking in his car seat and calling out. He faced away from where his daddy was but, Stiles knew, he recognized Derek’s heartbeat.

It still amazed him, at what a young age werewolves developed their heightened senses.

Or maybe his child was an exception!

Derek hurried to the driver’s side of their Prius and nearly pulled Stiles out. After kissing Stiles a little harder than he expected but certainly appreciated, “Come on. I’ll introduce you,” he heard then watched Derek quickly circle to the other side to get Teo.

“This is my husband, Stiles,” Derek informed as Stiles went through the round of obligatory manly handshakes, noting with inner delight the still confused looks on some faces, those who’d never seen or even suspected there was a domestic side to their consulting architect.

 “And this is our son, Teodor.”

Teo had been happy hugging his daddy’s neck and breathing in the scent he loved, but his smile dimmed when Derek encouraged him to look at the strangers looking at him with their big eyes in their unrecognizable faces.

“He doesn’t like strangers,” one of the men said and again Stiles could’ve laughed observing the slight shift in his husband’s posture as he rotated so Teo was possibly only millimeters farther out of anyone’s reach, but enough, in Derek’s body language, to indicate _look but do not touch!_

It took many tedious minutes more to fully disengage. Stiles accelerated the process, taking back Teo so Derek could offer final handshakes. He turned, returning to the car and Teo instantly objected at parting from Daddy again. At his pup’s cranky cry Derek joined them.

Shedding his jacket and tie Derek took the backseat now. He surrendered to Teo’s outstretched arms, taking him out of his seat to hold him on his lap. Much kissing, mushing and scent-marking ensued.

Had Stiles possessed werewolf olfactories he’d have smelled euphoria.

A few miles into the drive back to Beacon Hills, “So what’d you two do for fun?” Derek asked.

“Oh, well, in the park we saw a doggie.” He paused. It was a short list. “And we had some ice cream.”

When Derek realized there was nothing following, “That’s all?” he asked.

“It was a nice doggie, wasn’t it Tay?”

Teo heard “doggie” and remembered it, but Daddy was all he wanted to think about now.

“I have news, too,” Derek said. “I might have a new job—”

_“What!”_

“I mean _project_ ,” Derek amended. “That’s why they wanted me here today. To meet potential future clients they’ve recommended me to, to remodel their rec center,” adding shyly, “They like my work.”

Stiles listened, relieved, surprised—he didn’t know which—at Derek’s change of attitude from the morning, but at Derek’s humble admission, “They damn better!” Stiles cheered and a few seconds later tacked on, “So _we’re_ gonna be making more trips to Yuba City, I guess?”

With the hand not securing Teo as they rode, Derek stroked his fingertips through Stiles’s hair. He didn’t know what to say other than his husband’s name, in a tone laden with feelings they were no words for. He'd married such a good man.

Smelling the emotions swirling around him, “Tsyeeh baaah,” Teo cooed.

“Anyway,” Stiles continued, “we’ll bring our bathing suits next time. There’s a water park. Did you know that?”

“It’s not a water park.” Derek always thoroughly looked into wherever he’d be working. “It’s a pool. A really, really big public pool. With playgrounds and picnic areas but no log flumes or raft rides or water slides.”

Stiles blew a raspberry in assessment of _that_.

Now that everything was just right again, both his fathers there with him, Teo started nodding, so Derek returned him to his car seat to let him nap, strapping him in snuggly. Stiles pulled to the highway’s shoulder so Derek could move to the passenger seat. They touched their lips together briefly; they smiled at one another silently, before Stiles got back on the road.

They held hands the rest of the way home.

**Author's Note:**

> Yuba City is an actual city in northern California, located in the vicinity of where Beacon Hills is proposed to exist, an imaginary location I use all the time in my fics. I did the typical fanfiction writer thing and learned far more info about Yuba City than I actually needed, but that's why Derek knows certain particulars about the locale which he tells Stiles. There are also unverified, fictional details about Yuba City I included as needed.


End file.
